Three Homer City Council candidates debated key issues that will define Homer’s future during a forum hosted by the Homer Chamber of Commerce last Wednesday.

Caroline Venuti and Bradley Parsons are veteran council members, having served since 2017 and 2024, respectively. Venuti worked as an educator for 40 years. Parsons is currently on Homer’s Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Board and previously served on transportation committees in Michigan and Alaska. 

They both said they’re seeking reelection to continue working on city projects like affordable housing and handicap accessibility.

“I’d like to make Homer a lead city (for accessibility),” Venuti said. 

Newcomer Matthew Bullard co-owns a dental practice with his wife, serves on the South Peninsula Hospital Board of Directors and volunteers for the Homer fire department. He said he tries to be involved in the community as much as possible to ensure Homer’s long-term success. 

“I want to make sure that somebody like myself is there to … make sure that we’re walking a finer line between not saying ‘yes’ to every project and not overly taxing every person here, but ensuring we’re focusing on the things that will set Homer up for success 10, 20, 30 years down the line,” he said. 

The three candidates are running for two, three-year seats, with the top two vote-getters winning the election. Voters can choose up to two of the three candidates.

Each election cycle, candidates are regularly asked about the city’s budget. Last week, forum host and chamber executive director Brad Anderson asked Bullard, Parsons and Venuti whether they would favor reducing services, increasing revenue, delaying capital projects or some combination thereof if city revenues failed to keep pace with spending. 

Parsons said he wanted to increase revenue by increasing Homer’s tax base through population growth. He noted the “exploding” growth in the outlying areas like Anchor Point and Fritz Creek — residents who also more and more use Homer services or infrastructure like the library or city roads.

“I don’t think we need to invent … or introduce new taxes to (increase revenue), I think we just need a bigger pool of residents who want to live here,” he said. 

Bullard spoke similarly against new taxes.

“I want to make sure that we focus on lean, mean local government and essential services,” he said.

Venuti said she looked to partnerships with the state and borough to help fund some projects, and that the city should budget for projects with future maintenance funding entailed.

Related to taxation, voters will decide in November whether to renew the Homer Accelerated Roads and Trails Fund, which is financed by 0.75% of the city’s 4.85% sales tax. Candidates discussed whether they supported the HART Fund’s continuation, particularly as the cost of living continues to rise. 

All three said the fund is vital to Homer’s ability to maintain and construct city roads, sidewalks and trails.

“If you don’t vote for me, that’s OK. But vote for the HART Fund,” Parsons said. “I don’t know how we would fund our roads unless we really dug into it. It would change the course of budgeting for this city that has been in place for 40 years now.”

The candidates also shared their views on housing, a wide-reaching issue that touches short-term rental regulations and Homer’s ongoing Title 21 zoning and planning code rewrite. Venuti encouraged residents to participate in the process by reviewing the draft code and submitting comments. 

Bullard said he wanted to protect Homer’s small-town feel, but also wanted to streamline the permitting process and enable property owners to do what they want within reason.

“If we do want to attract more people to Homer, that means we’re going to have to build more,” he said. “The only way to bring down the cost (of building) is to ensure … that we’re not onerously taxing and requiring things of people, and allow them to build the units that we require.”

Parsons agreed, and added he’d like to see Title 21 support a vibrant and walkable downtown.

“You got to do it by allowing people to build the businesses that they want to, and reduce those parking minimums,” he said. 

Venuti said Homer could implement centralized downtown parking.

As part of the Title 21 process, the Economic Development Advisory Commission is working through a series of policy recommendations to regulate short-term rentals. Bullard said he supported STR operators but understood the concerns about long-term housing availability and neighborhood quality.

“I understand that we do need some guardrails around that, but I also want to make sure that people from out of town who come in have the ability to stay in town…. I want to make sure they’re not squeezed out as well,” he said. 

To address the housing shortage, Parsons reiterated that the city needed to encourage additional construction through code. 

Both he and Venuti said they look forward to the EDC’s recommendations on STR regulations.

“I would prefer it not be draconian. I’d prefer it to be a win-win, if we can find one,” Parsons said. “But I trust those commissioners who are doing those deep dives.”

In previous conversations on short-term rentals, some have suggested implementing a bed tax as a method for generating more revenue. This idea has not advanced as an EDC recommendation, partly because Homer does not have the authority to create a bed tax unless the Kenai Peninsula Borough were to do so first. Homer would first need to become a “home rule” city, which grants municipalities broader legislative powers. 

Parsons said he supported a bed tax at the borough level to create a level playing field for STR operators both in and outside of city limits.

“One of the things I have trouble with when we think about regulating short-term rentals is the council can regulate what happens in city limits. We have funky city limits, man,” he said. “You’re going to have neighbors across the street that can do whatever they want. But if you’re in city limits, you can’t.”

He added he’s also interested in considering home rule to allow Homer more control over its future.

Venuti said she wasn’t “totally against” a bed tax, noting that Seward is able to support more local services with funds raised through their bed tax. She said the home rule question would have to go before the voters. 

Bullard said he would rather hold the home rule discussion first, and wouldn’t support new taxes “without having a clear, concise goal as to what it’s going towards.”

“I also want to make sure that Homer is accessible to everybody,” he said. “Whether you’re flying in from Florida or just driving down from Ninilchik, the more taxes we put on people, the more regulations we put on small businesses, the more we make impediments on Airbnbs and our local hotels, the more we’re going to start squeezing those people out.”

On the harbor expansion, all three candidates discussed the project’s importance to Homer’s future and said state and federal partnerships would be key to seeing it become a reality without financially overburdening Homer taxpayers and existing harbor users. 

“Right now we don’t have enough information, but I would love to see, once we get there, how feasible and viable is this massive project,” Parsons said. 

Watch the full Homer City Council candidate forum recording on the Homer Chamber of Commerce website. 

Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting opens Oct. 20.